Page 22 of Suddenly Entwined

Someone screams, Milly’s mom, I suppose. “Milicent!”

Milicent? I’d have guessed Maleficent.

I wipe mud off my cheeks, flinching as my eyes burn and water around the muck. Lou is pale and shaking, clinging to my front as I sit us up.

“Are you okay?” I ask, patting down her head and giving her arms a gentle squeeze.

“Uh huh.” She nods, clearly frightened as much as I am.

“Why did you climb over there, Louisa? You know you weren't supposed to.”

Tears well up along her red-rimmed eyes. “Milly said I was a scaredy cat.”

I’m vaguely aware of the donkeys being haltered and led away to their stalls, an employee muttering under her breath.

“There are some things we should be scared of. That’s how we stay safe,” I explain.

She buries her face against my chest, beginning to cry as the surprise wears off, even though I’m covered in layers of stinking mud.

“Shh, it’s okay,” I tell her, returning her embrace.

I watch Berg climb the fence with ease, tramping through the mud and falling to the ground on his knees when he reaches us.

His voice is thick with emotion. “Lou.”

“She’s alright,” I explain. “I tackled your child for a good reason. Sorry.”

“Yeah?” He looks to his daughter, tipping her chin up with his finger for confirmation, examining her face.

Louisa nods.

Then Berg turns to me, cupping my chin between his thumb and index finger. “And what about you?”

Me?

The same motion that looked fatherly with Louisa feels intimate on me. My cheeks heat at the concern in his eyes and the tranquil timbre of his question.

“I’m fine,” I lie as a throb of pain radiates down my arm.

I shrug my shoulders, recoiling at the feel of mud in the collar of my sweatshirt. “No biggie.”

My brother and Anna lean over the fence. I didn’t even know they’d arrived, but my brother is smirking.

“Pig pen is over there, sis.”

I’ve got a very muddy finger I’d love to hold up in my brother’s direction if there weren’t so many kids around.

Anna elbows him. “Shut up.”

I knew I liked her.

Cold, muddy water sluices down the neck of my sweater as I push myself up. My shoulder smarts as it bears my weight. Thank god I’m not working tonight.

“How did she get over the fence in the first place? Jesus.”

“Chris.” Anna elbows him. “Your sister was brave. And Lou isn’t a baby. She doesn’t need constant supervision.”

Berg snorts at Anna’s last words.

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